Squirrels and Old Books/Prints
First things first... Faithful reader "Gipper" Morris asked about the use of hot pepper in repelling squirrels... To answer you directly Harry, no I haven't actually tried hot pepper as a squirrel repellent. As we do sell hot pepper suet plugs, I assume that they do work. As for plain old hot pepper, I've never tried to use that to drive off the "gray menace", but, as an experiment, I just sprinkled a heaping helping of "Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning" on the 4X4 post that holds one of our feeders... (Even though we use a metal conical anti-squirrel shield, the rascals still try to rob the birds!) So let's see what happens... If they have the intestinal fortitude to go near the 4X4, they'd better bring both their gastroenterologist and their cardiologist - Tony Chachere's two main ingredients are red pepper and salt. I'll let you know ASAP if the squirrels try their normal futile raids (or if the 4X4 is even there in the coming days).
But on to another subject that hasn't gotten nearly the attention that (IMHO) it should have... That of free or nearly free bird pics and info... Take a look at just one more plate I got out of an old 1916 bird book:
Those are Northern Pileated Woodpeckers... But the real point I'm trying to make is that the book cost virtually nothing... There are no doubt tens of thousands of like tomes out there with great artwork, great descriptions, and a sub-dollar price tag. (I was going to say that I'd bet that I could sell the plates alone and make more than a few bucks... But I couldn't do that - this beauty belongs in our home.)
Anywho... There you go - repelling squirrels and fantastic bird prints... Only on eBirdseed.com...
See you by the feeders,
CapeCodAlan
P.S. Should you want any hi-res copies of old pics (copyright expired), just let me know... I'll be more than happy to scan and email to you or add to our eBirdseed.com photo library.
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding
Comments
Good morning CCA,
More than a year ago, I read an article regarding cayenne pepper, giving scientific data about how "hot" the pepper was, in ppm (parts per million), tolerances of birds, humans, and squirrels, to the pepper. I just can't find the article anymore. The moral of the article was that, squirrels had a very low tolerance to the pepper while birds had very high tolerance. Humans were somewhere in the middle.
In any case, I added about 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper to about a cup of bird seed. The squirrels ate the seed as though nothing was there.
Now I'm wondering about the suet cake I just tried. The package states it contains "red chili pepper". The squirrels won't touch it, yet go for the other suet I've put out.
Send me an email of one of the photos you have. I'd like to see it. Thanks
Harry "Gipper" Morris
Posted by: Harry "Gipper" Morris | June 30, 2010 9:47 AM